Flagship Program 6: Active and Collaborative Partnerships

Synergy in Public Service: Active and collaborative partnerships with UP

Written by Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

UP’s responsibility as a leader in the education sector is mandated by its Charter, with RA 9500 explicitly stating that the university must 鈥減erform its unique and distinctive leadership in higher education and development鈥� and as 鈥減ublic service university鈥�. Other higher education institutions (HEI), particularly state universities and colleges (SUCs), must be able to rely on UP for resources, best practices, and other modes of support.聽

UP, however, recognizes that developing the country鈥檚 tertiary education sector to meet the challenges of the 21st century involves not only guiding other HEIs, but also learning from them, ensuring that all stakeholders benefit from cooperation and engagement with each other. There is a need for HEIs to develop approaches to education that grounds its practices in the needs of Filipino people. UP must therefore expand active and collaborative partnerships not only with state or local government-funded universities and colleges (SUCs/LUCs), but also with national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), the private sector, and civil society.

President Angelo Jimenez (right) shaking hands with representatives of the indigenous communities of Mindanao at the Cultural Night in Dusit Thani Grand Ballroom, Dusit Thani Residence, Davao City last September 14, 2023. Photo by Kevin Roque, UP MPRO.

Partnerships for public service

Over the past decades, UP has entered into formal and informal partnerships with various institutions based on the strengths and needs of the involved parties. The current UP administration under President Angelo Jimenez is looking at gearing partnerships to go beyond mutual needs and individual academic gaps, and more towards collaborations directly aimed at public service or larger social goods. Partnerships will aim at strategic intervention to effect social transformation.聽聽

One urgent goal flagged by the current UP administration is the democratization of UP-quality education. As Jimenez explains, with UP given the biggest share of the SUC budget pie, it will be a great service of UP if it could contribute to the elevation of the quality of undergraduate education that SUCs provide.聽

With quality higher education accessible through the network of SUCs, UP can focus on fulfilling its mandate as graduate and research university, with able graduate enrollees coming from and some going back to the SUCs with their postgraduate degrees upgrading the profile of their respective faculties.聽

UP-SUCs Summit

UP initially broached the idea of more directed active and collaborative partnerships (ACPs) during the UP-SUC summit held on September 15, 2023 in Davao City. The initiative, organized by UP, was one of the first major priorities of Jimenez following his investiture as UP president. The summit resulted in a Mindanao Declaration on Excellence and Equity in Public Higher Education [], which called for a “sharing of expertise, resources, and opportunities” among all public higher education institutions. This was signed by 58 of the 69 SUCs that attended.

In line with this, on October 13, Jimenez established a task force to conceptualize and operationalize the UP State Universities and Colleges Collaboration Office (UP SUCCO).聽

The task force has conceptualized projects implementable in the next three years that can be carried out by UP in partnership with other organizations that will not only raise the quality of public higher education, but will support the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028:

The creation of a UP hub to promote social enterprises together with the SUCs. The BALAY Pagtinabangay: Sustainable Collaborative Social Enterprise can be a “community store” of social entrepreneurs from all over the country.
The establishment of the National Institute of Engineering, a nationwide network for graduate education, research, and innovation in Engineering for sustainable industrialization.
An information and communications technology (ICT) technical capability building program, primarily involved in the sharing of home-grown and open-source software systems and applications invented to help Filipino students and faculty more easily learn, teach, and conduct research.
Partnerships for Digital Education Technology, providing for joint academic programs, technical consulting, mutual capacity building for information infrastructure, and curriculum co-development.

UP Resilience Institute

Another priority of the UP administration is the roll-out of technical assistance on climate change action and disaster risk reduction and management (CCA-DRRM), as led by the UP Resilience Institute (UPRI) and its Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH).

On May 29, 2024, the Provincial Government of Tarlac (PGT) and UP launched the PGT-UP Resilience Hub at the UP Manila School of Health Sciences (UPM-SHS) Building in Tarlac City. The facility will be a center for the local and nearby communities, including public universities and colleges in central and northern Luzon, to avail of and localize UP knowledge and technology on CCA-DRRM for their own development plans. Located in a UPM-SHS facility, the Resilience Hub features telehealth technology developed by UP Manila and its partners. Aside from making health services accessible on remote, telehealth offers another means of communication with remote areas.

UP supported Green Philippines in organizing the National Youth Environmental Summit, held this year on April 22-24 in Baguio City in collaboration with different NGAs, LGUs, academic institutions, and civil society and youth organizations. UP, through UPRI-NOAH, provided information for formulating DRRM鈥揷limate change adaptation and mitigation (CCAM) frameworks to the youth participants, who are expected to lead environmental projects in their respective schools and localities.

Partner S/LUCs can benefit from the expansion of the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning and the Commission on Higher Education’s project of training SUCs to craft their own Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP), as they have been required by RA 11396.

From the left, Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay, Executive Director of UPRI (leftmost) Hon. Susan A. Yap (second from right) , Governor of Tarlac, and Atty. Angelo Jimenez, UP President (rightmost) initiated the ribbon cutting ceremony during the launch of the PGT-UP Resilience Hub at the UP Manila School of Health Sciences Building. Photo by Kevin Roque, UP MPRO.

A partner for people-driven development

In solidarity with the Bangsamoro, the University, led by its first Mindanawon president, is actively expanding relations with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with an opening salvo of consultations and meetings geared toward institutionalizing a UP Bangsamoro Development Institute (UP BDI). Grounded on principles of inclusivity and participatory development, UP BDI will present UP鈥檚 technical capacities as System to the BARMM government for whatever aspects of development they can be of use.

鈥淲e are pursuing the dream of building a future where every individual in the Bangsamoro region has access to quality education, economic opportunities, and an enabling environment in which to thrive,鈥� Jimenez emphasized during his investiture, a major UP event held for the first time in Mindanao.

UP鈥檚 partnership with BARMM has consisted of capacitating the BARMM education system through in-service training of teachers, deployment of UP Gurong Pahinungod, and a junior scientist project. Building on trust that the Pahinungod has developed in the region since deploying volunteers to teach in the area since 1998, UP BDI is envisioned to extend UP services to the rest of the Bangsamoro government on its quest for autonomy, 鈥渆nduring peace and sustained socio-economic development suitable to the systems of life, needs, and aspirations of its people鈥�.

The task force to conceptualize and operationalize the UP BDI, led by UP Mindanao Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao, met with the top officials of the BARMM Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education in May 10, 2024 at the BARMM Government Center in Cotabato City. The UP representation formally relayed to the BARMM government the University鈥檚 sincerity and revitalized public service thrust, which, through the 鈥渁ctive and collaborative partnerships鈥� approach, will hopefully result in greater acceptance and impact.